Five-man gang robs Standard editor of Sh95,000

By John Oywa

NAIROBI; KENYA: An editor at the Standard Group Ltd was on Friday robbed Sh95,000 and lost other valuables to armed robbers along Mombasa road in Nairobi.

Mr Amos Karethi was accosted by the robbers near Bobmill Mattresses as he reported on duty yesterday morning. They had trailed him in a private car from Kitengela where he had just withdrawn Sh 75,000 from the Co-operative bank of Kenya.

“I boarded a bus to Mombasa Road soon after withdrawing the money and the robbers accosted me as soon as I a lighted at the Bobmill Stage. They introduced themselves as police officers and quickly handcuffed and bundled me into their car,” said Mr Kareithi who suffered leg, hand facial injuries.

He added: “They ordered me to lie on the floor of the car and stepped on me. At one stage they stopped and ordered me to reveal the pin numbers for my two ATM cards they had taken. I later learnt they withdrew Sh20,000 from my two accounts.”

The five robbers threatened Mr Kareithi but later dumped him at an open field opposite the Syokimau Railway Station where General Service Officers guarding the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport rescued him.

The gangsters also robbed Mr Kareithi of his two mobile phones.

“It was a harrowing experience. I am lucky to be alive. The robbers were ruthless. They had a handcuff and police identity cards which may have been fake,” he said.

Mr Kareithi first reported the matter to the Airport Police station from where he was referred to Embakasi police station and later to the Industrial Area police station which covers the scene of the incident.

Officers at Embakasi police station said Mr Kareithi was among many people who had been robbed in Nairobi in a similar manner in the past few weeks.

“We are beginning to suspect that some bank officials are colluding with robbers and members of the public should be extra careful when withdrawing money over the counter,” said a police officer who asked not to be named.